As illustrated in FIG. 1, conventionally during the process of drilling, fluid 2 is pumped through the drill pipe 4 into the bore hole 6 for the purposes of cooling the drill bit 8 and packing or sealing the wall of the bore. It is common in the industry to use diesel fuel as an easily accessible and efficient fluid for this purpose. As drilling proceeds to depth a considerable volume of such fluid will be contained within the bore which is nominally 10 inches (254 mm) in diameter. Pockets of pressurized gas are normally encountered at intervals during the drilling process. If the fluid pressure of the gas exceeds the pressure of the drilling fluid 2, a so-called ‘gas kick’ will enter the bore hole 6 and the contents of the bore hole 6 including any diesel fuel/oil mixture or such other liquids commonly used in the industry, as well as fragments of rock, loose soil, etc. will be ejected as ejecta from the surface opening of the drill bore hole 6 under considerable pressure.
Environmental contamination is an obvious concern resulting from the expulsion of such mixture from the bore hole as is the health and safety of workers at the drilling site. Blow-out prevention hardware is commonly utilized near the ground surface surrounding the bore hole site to ameliorate such contamination and safety concerns. It is common practice for such hardware to simply contain and direct such expelled fluid by suitable pipe-work to nearby storage areas, which may simply be one or more shallow open pits excavated nearby. At suitable intervals the contents of these pits are ignited and volatile materials burnt off. It is obvious then that with this practice there is little regard of the recovery and subsequent re-use of the fluid used during the drilling process or for the burning of the volatile materials in an efficient manner.
The portable degasser, flare tank and fluid storage system of the present invention, once it has been situated in proximity to an exploratory drilling rig, may be more easily connected to the fixed length lines extending from the blow-out prevention hardware than was heretofore possible, without the need for accurate positioning of the portable degasser.
In the prior art the applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,930 which issued Aug. 10, 1976 to Burgess for a Drilling Mud Degasser Apparatus and Method where a tank for receiving mud from a drilling operation incorporates a centrifugal separator mounted therein for separating gas, liquid and solids.
Further, the applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,284 which issued Dec. 19, 2000 to Mitchell, Gladue and Corb for a Separator For Gasses, Liquids and Solids From a Well by directing ejecta from a bore hole 6 created by ‘air drilling’ and foam extraction, to a vortex for centrifugally separating gas, liquid and solids, thus permitting separated gas to be flared off, the solids to be disposed and the liquid to be reused in the further drilling process.
The applicant is also aware of U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,786 which issued Feb. 27, 2001 to Henderson for a Portable Oil Degasification Apparatus where oil containing a volatile dissolved combustible gas is infused with an inert gas having a lower equilibrium vapor pressure to transfer the combustible gas into the inert, then separating the volatile/inert gas combination from the oil.
The teaching in the prior art does not reduce the necessity for, and difficulty associated with, repositioning the degassing apparatus, which is heavy and thus only transported by means of heavy equipment, so that the fixed-length pipes extending from the blow-out prevention hardware on the drilling rig can be attached to the degassing apparatus.